Category: Houston Rockets Blog

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Rockets bounce back with 123-104 win over Hawks

James Harden

The Houston Rockets had allowed 120 points in consecutive tough losses entering Monday night’s game against Atlanta.

This time it was Houston’s turn to put on an offensive show that left the other team at a loss.

James Harden had 28 points and the Rockets rebounded from their worst loss of the season with a 123-104 win over the Hawks.

The Rockets were coming off a 30-point defeat by Oklahoma City that was preceded by a loss to the Spurs…

Lou Williams had 21 points to lead the Hawks, who saw a four game winning streak snapped with the loss…

Smith scored 17 with seven rebounds in his return after missing a game with a hip injury, and Al Horford had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Delfino returned from a two-game absence with an illness to score a season-high 22 points, with six 3-pointers, and a career-high-tying eight assists. Asik added 11 points and 17 rebounds for the Rockets and Jeremy Lin added 16 points with eight assists.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Thunder destroy Rockets by 30

Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook scored 28 points and Kevin Durant added 26 as the Oklahoma City Thunder built a big lead in the second quarter and rolled to a 124-94 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

Durant scored 11 points during a 16-0 run by the Thunder to end the first half and extend the lead to 18. Oklahoma City had another big run early in the third quarter to put the game further out of reach.

Former Thunder sixth man James Harden scored 25 for the Rockets, who went cold on offense for long stretches.

It was Oklahoma City’s second win this season over Houston, after taking the first meeting 120-98.

Kevin Martin, who came to Oklahoma City in the trade for Harden, finished 19 points and five 3-pointers. Westbrook had eight rebounds and eight assists.

Marcus Morris scored a career-high 24 points for Houston…

Houston had cut its 18-point halftime deficit to 13 early in the third quarter before it hit another scoring drought, going more than 5 minutes without a field goal.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Houston Rockets assign Royce White to D-League

Royce White

The Houston Rockets today assigned rookie forward Royce White to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the record 84th of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while White becomes the 45th NBA player to be assigned to the NBA D-League this season, another new League record.

White (6-8, 260, Iowa State) was selected in the first round (16th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Rockets and appeared in four preseason games for the team, averaging 2.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 12.3 minutes. He has been on Houston’s inactive list for much of the season.

White is expected to join the Vipers tonight and be available Sunday, Dec. 30, when the team travels to face the Bakersfield Jam at 10 p.m. ET.

It’ll be interesting to see if White can progress to eventually becoming a true member of the Rockets.

Omer Asik helps Rockets smoke Bulls 120-97

Omer Asik

Omer Asik enjoyed his trip back to Chicago. And he got help from James Harden and Jeremy Lin.

Asik returned to the United Center and had a double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds [plus three blocks] to lead the Houston Rockets to a 120-97 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.

It was his first trip to Chicago since signing with the Rockets in the offseason…

Harden scored 26 points and Lin added 20 points and 11 assists for Houston, which had all five starters score in double figures.

Chandler Parsons scored 23 points and Marcus Morris had 10.

Houston has won six of seven…

Lin capped a 14-2 run midway through the quarter with a drive and a layup to make it 55-34. He scored 12 in the second quarter and Harden had 13…

Nate Robinson led the Bulls with 27 points, and Marco Belinelli scored 15…

Harden, fourth in the league in scoring, followed up two strong performances – 37 points against Detroit and 45 against Atlanta – with another strong game. He was 7 for 13 from the field and 11 for 13 from the free throw line.

Houston improved to 11-2 against the Eastern Conference.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Houston Rockets love to run

There seemed to be no way Rockets owner Leslie Alexander could know how his team would play, given that at the time, he had almost no idea who would be on the team.

But Alexander was determined and in a position to expect to get his way. Last season had barely ended when he said the Rockets of this season would run. He could not name them, but he was certain that whoever wore his uniforms and received paychecks with his name on them would play faster than his teams ever had.

Reminded that he had made such proclamations for years, Alexander made it clear this time the topic was not up for discussion.

“Oh, we will run,” he said with a tone that sounded much more like an edict from the corner office than a prediction.

Through 26 games and nearly as many roster moves, the Rockets run more than any team in the NBA, winning more often than Alexander expected when they do and standing little chance when they do not. They did not shape the roster to fit the owner’s wishes, choosing to go with the NBA’s youngest team for other reasons, but that has made it even more imperative that they do what the boss wanted.

“I definitely wanted this team to run,” Alexander said. “I think running is the future of this league. I’ve thought so for many years. When we hired Kevin (McHale in June 2011), he was on board, and I knew he was ready to do it. I don’t think personnel matters. I think anybody can run if they buy into it, and this team has bought into it.”

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle

James Harden leads Rockets over Grizzlies

James Harden leads Rockets over Grizzlies

Houston coach Kevin McHale figured the best way to beat the Memphis Grizzlies was to get down the court before they could get their dominant defense set.

His plan worked perfectly.

James Harden scored 31 points with eight assists, and the Rockets earned their third straight win, 121-96 over the Grizzlies on Saturday night.

Memphis entered the game allowing an NBA-low 89.2 points a game. But the Grizzlies had no answer for Harden. He did all his scoring in the first three quarters and reached at least 20 points for an eighth straight game…

Mike Conley had 16 points for the Grizzlies on a night when leading scorer Rudy Gay finished with a season-low six points…

”I think tonight we showed how explosive we can be offensively because we put 120 points on a team that hasn’t allowed over 100 since the first game of the season,” Lin said. ”This is just a testament to people moving and passing the ball.” …

Lin added 15 points and a season-high tying 11 assists, and Marcus Morris scored 16 points…

Randolph finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his 21st double-double this season, which leads the league.

Houston’s 32 assists were a season-high.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Rockets recall Scott Machado from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled guard Scott Machado from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Machado (6-1, 205, Iona), who was re-assigned to the Vipers on Nov. 30, has averaged 12.0 points, 7.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 11 games (nine starts) with Rio Grande Valley. At the time of his recall, Machado ranked third in the D-League in assists per game, which included a league single-game high of 13 helpers at Texas (12/15/12).

Return of Jeremy Lin is highest-rated Knicks game on MSG

Jeremy Lin

Jeremy Lin is still must-see TV in New York.

Lin’s first trip back to New York since signing with the Houston Rockets resulted in MSG Network’s highest-rated Knicks game of the season, according to the network.

The Rockets’ 109-96 victory Monday drew a 4.77 rating, MSG said Tuesday. That’s well above the 3.41 average rating for the first 18 games of the season.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Rockets recall Donatas Motiejunas from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled forward/center Donatas Motiejunas from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Motiejunas (7-0, 222, Lithuania), who was re-assigned to Rio Grande Valley on Dec. 14, has averaged 23.5 points and 10.8 rebounds over four starts with the Vipers this season.